


Oh.

by thruheavenandhighwater



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 5 Seconds of Summer - Freeform, 5SOS - Freeform, Calum Hood - Freeform, F/M, Soulmate AU, tattoo soulmate au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-12 23:48:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17477270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thruheavenandhighwater/pseuds/thruheavenandhighwater
Summary: Tattoo!Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with a tattoo of the first word their soulmate will say to them when they meet. But what happens when you don’t know that they’re your soulmate and you lose them?





	Oh.

_Oh._

That’s all it said, was _Oh._

Everyone in the world is born with a tattoo of the first word that their soulmate will say to them when they finally meet. Some people had fun words, like _pizza_ or _unicorn._ You’d even known a boy in middle school whose tattoo said _trapezoid._ You had a cousin whose tattoo said _Cancer,_ which everyone hoped meant that she would end up with someone born in June or July, but nobody could really be sure.

More often than not, these tattoos were greetings of some kind. _Hello, hi_ , and _excuse me_ made appearances most frequently. Your father’s tattoo had said _Sir,_ while your mother’s had said _Yes._ They met while she was waiting tables in college and the rest, as they say, was history.

But yours? Yours just said _Oh._ It infuriated you beyond belief, if you were being honest. It was just a basic word, one that you yourself said multiple times a day. There was nothing exciting about it. No context to it at all. You found yourself looking down at your wrist any time a stranger would say the word to you for any reason at all. But every single time you looked, it was still there. The drill was that once the right person said this magic word, the tattoo would disappear. Once the tattoo disappeared, you’d found your soulmate. At that point, you were supposed to kiss, fall in love, live happily ever after. The End.

But here you were, alone in your tiny, one bedroom apartment with your cat and no soulmate. No idea whatsoever about who your soulmate could even be. The only thing you had to go on was the tattoo. That stupid word you’d grown to hate seeing every day, anytime you washed your hands or touched your face. _Oh._

When you were younger, you and your friends would often sit together and compare tattoos. You would spend hours outside, or in one of your bedrooms, even in Mallory’s treehouse sometimes when her grandma was home to watch you. Just holding your fists out to each other to show off the black ink on your wrists and come up with elaborate and extravagant stories about how you would meet your soulmates. You’d never forget the time that Christine found out that Aaron, the boy she had a crush on, had a tattoo that said _And._ She spent days coming up with what you all thought was a clever plan for her to have a reason to say it to him. The day came, she said her lines perfectly, but to her horror- both of their tattoos remained. She’d cried for hours after school, claiming that the tattoo system was broken. But then, two summers ago she met Erin and decided that the tattoo system was working just fine, thank you very much.

Today was Saturday, your weekly lazy day. The one day you allowed yourself to not care about the dishes piling in the sink or the laundry you swore you were going to do three days ago. No, Saturdays, as far as you were concerned, were created to sit on the couch in your pajamas and binge watch the best and worst things that Netflix had to offer. And that is exactly what you were doing. You were three episodes into a Gilmore Girls marathon when suddenly you felt your stomach rumble, accompanied by a loud groan that you were definitely sure your downstairs neighbors had to have heard.

You slipped into a pair of boots and grabbed your jacket and keys as you walked out the door in search of food. You stopped at a diner just down the street, where all the wait staff and cooks knew you by name. After placing your usual order, a turkey club and an extra side of fries, you took to a booth to wait. Donna, the waitress who was always extra nice to you and never charged you for the extra fries, came around the counter holding a white paper bag containing your order.

“Why the long face, honey?” She asked you as she set your food in front of you.

You sighed as you stood from the table and picked up the bag. “Chris and Erin’s wedding is in a few months. I love them and I’m excited for them, but being the only bridesmaid that still has my soulmate tattoo is starting to get to me.”

Donna scoffed and rolled her eyes at you. “You know I didn’t meet my husband until I was 39?” She said. “I had my soulmate tattoo for 39 years. You’re young, you’re sweet, and you’re cute. You’ll be fine.” She said, placing a hand on your shoulder. “Who knows, maybe you’ll meet them at the wedding.”

“I do appreciate your never ending belief in me, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.” You told her with a laugh.

“You never know. People meet their soulmates all types of places.”

“I suppose.” You sighed, shrugging your shoulders. You took a few steps backwards, toward the door. “Thanks for the food, Donna. You know you’re my favorite.”

She laughed and walked back behind the counter. “Uh huh. Get out of here, trouble.” You winked at her quickly before turning and finally walking out the door.

 

Outside, the temperature had dropped slightly while you were inside the warmth of the cozy diner. You decided that if you were going to survive the four block walk back to your apartment, you absolutely had to have coffee to keep you warm. So, you crossed the street and walked a few doors down to a small cafe. When you opened the door you were met with a packed house. Clearly, you were not the only one who needed some warming up. You got in line and passed the time on your phone, occasionally switching your food from hand to hand when it got too heavy.

When it was finally your turn, you placed your order and walked to the other end of the counter to wait for your grande caramel macchiato. When the barista called out your drink, you thanked her with a smile. You made your way to the front door, finally ready to get home as quickly as possible with your food and coffee when it hit you. Like, literally hit you. The front door of the coffee shop swung open and whoever was on the other side walked directly into you.

You ended up smushing your hot coffee between your chest and his, successfully drenching both you and him in the process. The burn made you drop your bag, which thankfully stayed closed but you were sure that your sandwich would be a toppled mess when you got home.

“Oh, shit.” The guy said, putting his hands on your shoulders to steady you. You wished he hadn’t because the hot coffee seeping through your jacket and dripping from your hand had you wanting to smack him. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

You looked at him. Well, you looked at his coffee stained chest before your eyes trailed up to his face. If you weren’t so pissed about your wasted coffee, you might even think he was kind of handsome. Tan skin, a few moles across one cheek. Black hair that was combed back, styled in a way that could only be described as a special kind of perfect. Then he smiled at you. Even though it was cold and the sun wasn’t technically out, you were completely sure that you saw the sun shine out of his smile.

You bent down to retrieve your dropped food. “It’s fine.” You told him. “Nothing a run through a washing machine won’t get out.”

“Are you sure?” He asked you, pulling his hands from your shoulders.

“Yeah. Sorry about your shirt.” You told him as you stepped around him and through the door.

“At least let me buy you a new coffee.”

“It’s fine.” You repeated. “This is hot and I just want to get it off as quickly as possible. Thank you, though.” You saw him open his mouth to speak again, but you turned away and started heading for home before he had the chance.

As you walked you couldn’t help but to think that he had some sort of nerve. Being that handsome after making you spill hot coffee all over yourself. Well, he was probably that handsome before that, but that wasn’t the point. You angry walked home, your feet carrying you faster than they had since you were forced to run the mile in high school. When you finally reached your front door, you unlocked it and set your now cold and likely ruined food in the kitchen before moving to the bathroom.

You unzipped your jacket, setting it on the counter while you finished undressing. You ran yourself a shower and let the warm water wash away the sticky coffee residue that was left on your chest and stomach. When you finished your shower, you changed back into a pair of fresh pajamas before throwing your damp clothes into the wash. So much for a lazy day.

As you fished your food from the paper bag on your kitchen table, you discovered that you were right. The fries were okay, no longer neatly contained in the styrofoam box that you’d gotten them in, but fine. Your sandwich hadn’t fared so well. It was still edible, yes, but you had to reconstruct it.

You finished dinner, put your clothes in the dryer and decided it was time for bed before anything else would have the chance to go wrong. You slid beneath your comforter and your cat curled up on the foot of your bed just like he did every night. You plugged your phone in to the charger next to your bed and began to scroll through Facebook. Erin had posted some of her and Christine’s engagement photos a few hours prior. Even in your slightly cynical state, you had to admit that they were a beautiful couple. You sighed as you looked over to your wrist at your stupid tattoo.

Instead of being met by the single word that had tormented you for as long as you could remember, all you saw was bare skin. Pure, unmarked skin. No tattoo. It was gone. You sat bolt upright in bed and rubbed your hand over your wrist. How could it be gone? It was impossible. When? Where? Who? Every question you could think of was flooding your mind at once as you stood from the bed and started to pace around your room, trying to remember every person you’d met today. You were definitely sure that it had been there this morning. But after that? You tried to look at it as little as possible, so it could have disappeared at any point between your shower this morning and getting coffee.

_Fuck._ Coffee boy.

Shit shit shit shit shit. You ran a hand through your hair as you continued to pace around your room. Eventually, you got tired of the confines of your bedroom, so you moved into the living room, then the kitchen and even the bathroom. You had to keep your feet moving to keep your mind from eating itself alive for letting you walk away from him. You didn’t even get his name. All you knew about him was that he was tall and didn’t pay attention to where he was going. Not a lot to go on.

You checked the time on the clock over the stove. 8:04 pm. Fuck. The coffee shop just closed. You couldn’t even go back and try to find him. What the hell were you supposed to do now? All you had was a basic description of a random guy you’d seen in a public place for a few minutes at an undetermined time this evening. What kind of missed connections ad would that be? You went back to your bedroom and called the only person you knew that might be able to help you. Your mother.

The phone rang a few times while you bit at your fingernails nervously. When she finally answered, you realized that you had no idea where to even begin. So, you just started with what you thought was the most important part.

“Mom.” You started with a sigh, bringing your hand to cover your eyes. “I uh… Well, my tattoo is gone.”

“Oh, my god!” She squealed into the phone. You pulled your phone from your ear and held it at arm's length until she was done getting excited over nothing. “So, tell me! Who is it? What’s their name? What do they look like? How old are they?” She had what seemed like a million and one questions. And you didn’t have an answer to a single one of them.

“That’s uh… Shit.” You stopped yourself, not entirely sure how you were supposed to continue.

“Y/N?” You mother asked, her voice laced in concern as the excitement quickly faded away. “Y/N, what is it? What’s wrong?”

“Okay, well.” You started again. You decided to bite the bullet and just tell her. “So, the thing is… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“No.”

“What don’t you know?”

“Anything.” You said with a laugh. How were you laughing right now? Nothing about this was funny. Maybe it was the nerves, or the fact that if you didn’t laugh you might end up crying. Either way you continued to giggle lightly as you detailed your encounter with your soulmate to your mother over the phone.

“Oh, wow.” She said when you finished your story. “That’s… Well, that’s quite the predicament, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is. And I don’t know what to do now. How am I supposed to find him again?” You asked her, praying that she would have all the answers.

“Baby, I don’t know.” She answered, sounding as defeated as you felt. Your shoulders slumped. If she can’t help you, then who the hell could?

“Okay.” You sighed, rubbing your eyes. “Well, thank you for listening to me ramble. I’m gonna try to sleep and figure this thing out tomorrow.” You and your mom said your goodnights to each other before hanging up. You had every intention of going to sleep and figuring this out tomorrow, just like you’d told her. But how were you supposed to sleep at a time like this?

You ended up scouring the internet all night, trying to find ways to get in touch with him. Most sites suggested that you make a post on every social media platform you could find. Give their description, where you’d seen them and at what time, and what their tattoo would have said, all the basic info. You tried your damnedest but all you could remember about him was that he was tall and tan. You couldn’t even remember what you’d said to him, so including what his tattoo would have said was completely out of the question.

You finally closed your laptop with a defeated groan just before 5 am. When you read the bight green numbers above the stove, you realized that the coffee shop would be opening soon. You ran to the bathroom and took a quick shower to wash the night of fruitless research from your body. You quickly got dressed and all but ran to the coffee shop. The same barista from yesterday greeted you as you pulled the door open and stepped inside.

“Good morning!” She called all too cheerily. “What can I get ya?”

“Actually, I was here yesterday.” You told her, slightly out of breath.

“Oh? Was there something wrong?”

“No, no.” You assured her. “But, right after I left there was a guy in here. Tall, black hair, a little bit handsome?”

She pursed her lips as she thought back to the night before. It took a few minutes but when you saw a smile came to her glossed lips you knew that she remembered him. “A little bit handsome?” She asked with a laugh. “He was more than a little bit handsome.”

“So you remember him?”

“Yeah, black house blend, I think. Why?”

“Have you seen him before? Is he a regular?” You asked, almost begging her to say that yes, he comes in every day at the same time and orders the same thing so that you could have a sliver of a chance of finding him again.

“I’m sorry,” She started, taking a step back from the counter with a worried look on her face. “I don’t really think I should tell-”

“He’s my soulmate.”

“Woah. Lucky you.” She giggled.

“No,” You sighed. You brought a hand up to your hair as you closed your eyes. “Not lucky me. He bumped into me and spilled my coffee and I was mad and I didn’t know that he was my soulmate so I left. I lost him and I’m really hoping that you can help me out here.”

“That sucks.” She said, raising her eyebrows. _Yeah, no shit, Katie._ “I’m sorry, but that was the first time I’ve ever seen him. Do you want me to ask the others?”

“Yeah. Yes, please.”

She turned her head and called for the rest of the staff that was on duty to come to the register. She quickly explained the situation to them and asked them if they’d ever seen your unidentified soulmate before last night. They all looked disappointed as they went down the line and told you that, no, they’d never seen him before.

Shit. This was bad.

You thanked them and denied Katie's offer for a replacement coffee. You were too upset to even think about caffeinating yourself right now. You walked home, your feet dragging beneath you as they lead you back to your front door. Your cat greeted you the same as he always did, but you ignored him as you sulked to your bedroom and flopped down on top of your comforter. Your eyelids were heavy, and you were far too emotionally and physically drained to even try to keep them open. Instead, you let yourself fall asleep in your jeans, hoping that you’d have a solution when you woke up.

 

It was nearly two in the afternoon when you finally woke up. You blinked your eyes a few times as you started to remember the night before. With a groan, you pushed yourself from your bed and made your way to the bathroom. Of course, you still had no idea what you were going to do. Eventually, you decided that maybe posting ads on social media was your only option.

You brewed a pot of coffee, opening your laptop at your kitchen table while you waited for it. Once it was done brewing you quickly poured yourself a cup and got to work. You included everything you could remember from the night before- The time and place, what little you could recall about his looks, and what your own tattoo had said. You found yourself hating that stupid tattoo more now than you ever had before. _Oh._ Such a basic word that millions of people say every single day without realizing. How the hell was this mystery guy supposed to remember that he had said it to you?

After typing and retyping the ad a few dozen times you finally decided that it was as good as it was gonna get and posted it to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Your posts got a few shares and retweets from your friends and family but none of them gained any ground. In the post you included your email address and asked whoever thought they might be it to email you a photo of themselves so you could be sure. The first few days you got fifty or so emails a day. None of them were him. After that, you got less and less until eventually you were lucky if you got one a day.

Days passed. Then weeks. Then months. Christine and Erin’s wedding was in two weeks and you couldn’t stop yourself from being bitter. You found yourself thinking that maybe Christine had been right, all those years ago while she sobbed on the floor of your bedroom. Maybe the soulmate tattoo system was broken. You hated yourself for letting him slip right through your coffee covered fingers that day. Day after day you continued to check your email and scour the internet, hoping and praying that somehow you would find him. And then one day, you did.

You were in line at the grocery store, a cart full of groceries and a head full of thoughts that refused to leave or even let up so you could get some damn sleep. You glanced over the magazine display casually. You felt your breath catch in your throat and your mouth go dry when you saw it. Saw him. Saw the headline.

_5 Seconds Of Summer cancels upcoming world tour, citing “personal struggles” for bassist Calum Hood._

Was that you? Was this Calum Hood guy your soulmate? He was definitely one of the four boys on the cover, but you had no idea if he was the right one. The line moved and suddenly it was your turn. You quickly checked out and left the store, sure that the poor checkout boy had thought you were rude by the way you didn’t make small talk and all but forced him to scan quicker. But you didn’t care, you’d apologize to him later. After you found the person you’d been looking for for months.

You drove home, loudly cursing every red light that you caught as you went. You ran into your apartment, throwing the door open and hitting the wall so hard that the crash scared your cat who was sleeping on the couch.

“Sorry, bub.” You called out to him as he ran into your bedroom.

Opening your laptop you pulled up Google and typed in the name of the band that you’d seen on the cover of the magazine. You scrolled down to where the band members were listed and sure enough, Calum Hood was the man that had covered you in hot coffee and then disappeared.

You clicked on a link to his Twitter account. He wasn’t too active, you noticed. But the last few tweets that he had posted were definitely more than a little melancholy. Apparently, he had been looking for you for as long as you’d been looking for him. You found yourself laughing alone in your bedroom as you scrolled further down his Twitter feed. He was funny, that much was clear by the way he interacted with his fans.

But how? How could this even be happening? How could your soulmate be a world famous, honest to god, rockstar? It didn’t make sense. The more you went over it in your head, you all but convinced yourself that you had made it up. You were remembering it wrong. You had to be. You called up Christine and told her about what had happened.

“So you’re going to DM him, right?”

“Chris, have you listened to anything I just told you? This can’t be right.”

Christine laughed, a real genuine belly laugh. “I thought I was straight before I met Erin.” She told you. “The tattoos don’t lie, even if it doesn’t make sense.” She was right. She had been just as surprised as the rest of you when she met her soulmate, only to find out that she was a woman. “Listen, I’m not your mom so I’m not going to tell you what to do. All I’m saying is that if you don’t do it, you’ll probably spend the rest of your life wishing that you had.”

“Do you know how much I hate it when you’re right?” You asked her.

“I do.” She answered with a laugh. “Sucks for you that I’m always right, huh?”

“Shut up.” You told her before saying your goodbyes and hanging up. You sat back down in front of your laptop and opened his Twitter page again before remembering that he didn’t follow you, so you couldn’t message him. Just as you started to freak out, a text from Christine came though.

_Stalked a little. Seems like he’s more active on Instagram. Try him there. And if it is him, he’s invited to the wedding._

You smiled to yourself and silently thanked the universe for giving you a best friend like Christine. As you opened the Instagram app and typed in his username, all of your nerves that you’d thought had gone away over the last two months suddenly came back in full force. Your hands shook as you looked through his pictures. Lots of pictures of his dog, which you loved but hoped that didn’t mean that he would have a problem with your cat. Soulmate or not, you and your cat were a package deal.

Just like when you’d written out the useless ad to try to find him, you typed and retyped your message to him. Eventually you settled for just the facts.

_Hi, my name is Y/N. I think we might be looking for each other._

You hit send and waited. And waited some more. And then even more. After three hours had passed with him not even opening the message you decided that you had been wrong and that this had been a terrible mistake. You knew that it couldn’t be true. Why had you let Christine talk you in to sending that damn message? You made a mental note to call her and rip her a new one in the morning. But for now, it was time for you to retire to your bed and hide under your blanket until the end of time.

Days passed without a response from the man that you had thought was your soulmate. You were back at square one. You pushed all thoughts of Calum and soulmates from your mind as you helped Christine with the last minute things she needed for the wedding.

“So he never even opened it?” She asked you as you were helping her to make the centerpieces for the reception.

“Not the last time I checked.”

“When was that?”

“A few days ago, I think.”

“Well, check it again. He could be reading it right now.”

You rolled your eyes as you pulled your phone from your pocket and opened the Instagram app. Just like you had expected, he still hadn’t read your message. Every time you checked it, you felt more and more stupid for sending it in the first place. “I told you it wasn’t him anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.”

“Y/N.” She said flatly. “He’s your literal fucking soulmate. Don’t be stupid. Of course it’s meant to be. It might take a little time, but it’s definitely meant to be.”

 

Days continued to pass until it was finally the day before your best friend’s wedding. Your whole life you had hoped that you’d be able to attend the event with your soulmate on your arm, but as you checked that damn message again it was clear that that wasn’t going to happen. You busied yourself the entire day with getting every single possible last minute detail taken care of. You made sure that the decorations were up and ready at the reception venue, double checked with each of the other bridesmaids that they had everything they needed, even called the woman who would be performing the ceremony to double check that she knew the right time and place for tomorrow.

When you realized that there was nothing left for you to do, it was just after 5 pm. You went home, ready to take a long, hot shower and relax for tomorrow. But as you stepped through the door of your apartment, your phone dinged. You quickly pulled it from your pocket and dropped it to the floor when you saw the notification that had come through.

_Instagram: calumhood sent you a message!_

Shit shit shit. This was it. He’d finally opened the message and was being nice enough to let you know that you were wrong, rather than ignoring you. That was it. It had to be. You bent over and picked your phone up from the floor cautiously opening the notification.

_Holy shit._  
_You're “It's.”_  
_I’ve been looking for you for months._

You felt faint as you read the messages over and over again. Three messages. Eleven words. One heart in your stomach as you tried to think of what you could possibly say to him.

_It's?_

It may have been a stupid message, but you had to know what the hell he meant when he called you It's.

_That's what my tattoo said. After I bumped you, I apologized and you said “It's fine.” Which, btw, I'm still totally sorry about._

Before you could even type anything out, he sent another message.

_What are you doing? I can fly you to LA tonight and we can finally properly meet. Maybe I can even buy you that coffee I owe you._

Your smile grew as you read his message and typed back your own reply.

_I would, but I’m in my best friend’s wedding tomorrow ): rain check?_

_I can come there. I don’t have to go to the wedding, but I can’t wait any longer to see you again._

_She actually said that if she was right about this, that you were invited._

_Awesome. Then I’ll pack my dancing shoes and see you tomorrow. What’s the closest airport to you?_

You quickly Googled airports near you and sent him the name of the the one that was closest.

_Great. Just bought my ticket. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, soulmate._

You spent the rest of the night texting Calum, telling each other stories from your lives and gently making fun of yourselves for taking so long to find each other. You glanced at the clock and knew that if you were going to be of any use at the wedding, you had to go to sleep now. You said goodnight to Calum before rolling over and closing your eyes. Just as you were about to fall asleep, one last text from him came through.

_Goodnight. I can’t wait to see you in the morning. I’m so glad we finally found each other._

 

The next morning you woke up to a few texts from Christine and one from Calum, wishing you a good morning and letting you know what time he would be getting dropped off at your apartment. You checked the time saw that you had about an hour and a half to get yourself ready and do whatever you could to make your apartment presentable before he arrived. You also noticed that he’d be getting there with only a few minutes to spare before you had to leave to be at the church on time.

You went about your normal morning routine- shower, brush teeth, makeup, hair, feed the cat- before slipping your bridesmaids dress on and making your way into the living room. You glanced at the clock over your stove as you passed it. Less than half an hour until Calum would be here. You mentally cursed at yourself for taking so long to get ready as you made a mad dash around your apartment. You picked up dirty laundry and shoved it all into the hamper in the bathroom, rinsed the dishes that were in the sink so they would at least appear clean even if they weren’t, and cleaned the cats litter box just before you heard a soft knock on your front door.

You froze, your hand stopping over the trashcan as you were about to throw something away. Just like that day in line at the grocery store, you felt your mouth go dry and your entire body suddenly felt warm. There was another knock, this one slightly louder, before you suddenly regained the ability to move. You walked to the door and took a few deep breaths as you smoothed the fabric of your dress with your hands.

When you finally turned the knob and opened the door, you almost swore you heard an actual chorus of angels. Calum stood in front of you in a black suit with no tie, his hair done up in the same way that it had been that day at the coffee shop, and a bouquet of roses in one hand. His suitcase sat at his feet, which were decked out in matte black boots. He looked incredible.

The two of you stood there for probably way too long, just looking at each other. He wore the same smile he had the day you’d first met him, the one that made it seem like the sun was shining even indoors. You finally took a step back and invited him in, your voice betraying your nerves as you did.

He giggled, and wow- his giggle was the most wonderful noise you’d ever heard in your life. “These uh… They’re for you. My sister helped me pick them. Said that girls like roses.” He rambled as he gestured the bouquet toward you. You took them from him with a smile before leading him into the kitchen to put them in water.

“Hope you don’t mind that we kind of have to leave, like right now.” You told him as you turned off the water. “I have to be at the venue soon.”

“Oh, yeah.” He stammered. “That’s fine. Where should I put my bag?” He asked, lifting the bag that you hadn’t even realized that he was holding.

“Just set it in there.” You told him, pointing behind him to your living room. “We can figure it out tonight.”

He did as you told him and followed you out the door and to your car. The drive to the venue was silent other than the songs that played quietly from the radio. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but it definitely wasn’t a comfortable one either. It was some sort of weird middle ground that you’d never experienced before. When you pulled up to the venue, you parked your car and turned to him.

“So, uh… Ready?” You asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” He answered, rubbing his palms over the knees of his pants.

You stood from the car and lead him to the door of the venue. Checking the time on your phone you saw that you were fifteen minutes late, thanks to some unforeseen traffic during your drive. Christine was waiting by the door, impatiently tapping her foot when you walked in.

“I swear I have half a mind to-” She stopped in her tracks when she saw Calum walk in behind you.

“Half a mind to what?” You asked with a smirk as she gawked at him.

“Half a mind to ask you to introduce me to your friend here.” She answered sweetly.

“Christine, this is Calum. Calum, Christine.” You said to both of them in turn.

_“The_ Calum?” She asked him.

He laughed and you saw a rosy tint come to his cheeks. “I think so.” He answered, turning his smile to you.

“Yes.” You told her, returning his smile. “ _The_ Calum. You said he could come.”

“I did say that. We’ll have to add a seat, but you can sit with the rest of our friends if you want.”

“Whatever works for you. I don’t want to be intrusive.”

Christine scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Please. You're my best friend’s soulmate. You’re not being intrusive.”

You felt your body get warm again. Neither of you had said the word out loud to each other yet. But when you finally looked up at him and saw the widest grin you’d seen from him yet, all of those nerves melted away instantly.

_Soulmate._

Calum Hood, the beautiful man standing next to you, was your soulmate. You could definitely get used to saying that. Out loud or just to yourself, you didn’t care.

“I’ll have one of the guys pull out another chair. They’re right up there at front.” Christine told him, pointing in the direction of your friends. “You can head that way if you want, but I need to steal Y/N in a few minutes.” She finished, hurrying away toward your friends. You watched her walk up to them and within twenty seconds all of their heads snapped from her to you.

“Looks like the cat’s out of the bag.” You told him with a laugh.

“I don’t think Binx would appreciate being put in a bag in the first place.”

“I told you his name?”

“No, but he’s all over your Instagram.” He answered with another giggle. He placed one hand on your wrist and leaned down to kiss your cheek. “I’ll see you up there?”

“Yeah. Meet back at my car after?”

“Okay.” He grinned at you again before taking a few steps away, toward your group of friends who were all excitedly waiting for him.

 

The wedding was lovely, as you knew it would be. Both Christine and Erin looked beautiful beyond words in their dresses. Their vows were wonderfully written and heartfelt. You dabbed your eyes a few times through the ceremony. You didn’t know if you were emotional because you were happy for your best friend, or because you were happy that you’d finally found your own soulmate. Either way, you were grateful for Erin’s mom, who stood from her seat to hand you a tissue halfway through the ceremony.

When the ceremony finished, you met with Calum at your car just like you’d agreed and drove across town to the reception venue. You lead Calum through the doors and to the table that you’d been assigned to. Once again, an extra chair had to be added for him, but nobody complained. Everyone knew who he was and why he was here and had no problem at all making room for him.

The two of you ate, drank, and were merry all night long. Even though you’d only met hours before, it was like you’d been the best of friends for years. As Calum stood to clear your plates, Forever by The Beach Boys started playing from the large speakers set up near the dancefloor. “Oh, wow.” You sighed, your eyes falling closed as you put a hand over your chest. “I love this song. Haven’t heard it in ages.” You heard Calum set the plates back down on the table. You opened your eyes to find him still standing, one hand extended toward you.

“Care to dance?” He asked. You took his hand and allowed him to lead you to the dancefloor. He wrapped his free hand around your waist while you wrapped yours around his neck. You brought your intertwined hands up between your chests as you started to move in slow circles around the dancefloor. Calum began to softly sing the lyrics to you when you rested your head on his shoulder. Even if you hadn’t already loved the song, this moment would have been enough to make it your favorite of all time.

“Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?” He asked during a musical break. You lifted your head from his shoulder to look into his deep brown eyes. Before you could even come up with a witty response, Calum was slowly moving his face closer to yours. Your eyes shut as he closed the space between your mouths.

_Sparks._  
_Fireworks._  
_Electricity._  
_Lightning._  
_Butterflies._

Every single cliche thing you could ever possibly imagine. All at once, and all breathtaking. You’d kissed other people before, sure. But this kiss? You were completely sure that kissing Calum was what you were meant to have been doing your entire life.

The kiss was short, but damn if it wasn’t powerful. You both wore matching grins when he pulled away, breaking the kiss.

“Woah.” You breathed.

“Yeah.” He agreed, a giggle falling from his smiling lips as he leaned in again.

This kiss was longer, and somehow even better than the first. You had no idea that kissing someone could make you feel like this. Like your entire world was suddenly brighter with his lips on yours. You smiled into the kiss as he took his hand away from yours, moving it to your cheek while the other stayed wrapped around your waist. Your own hand stayed resting flat against his chest as he pulled you closer to him.

You weren’t sure how long you stayed in his arms on the dancefloor after the song ended. At some point, he moved his hand from your cheek to join his other that was behind your back, linking his fingers over your waist. Your mind was completely wrapped up in the way his hands felt as he held you close to him. The way that his lips fit so perfectly into yours was some kind of magic. One of you had broken the first kiss, and now you were shuffling together, exchanging grins and quick kisses. Nobody in the world that was not the two of you mattered.

“Hey!” You faintly heard someone calling beside you. “Y/N!” You turned away from Calum to see Erin with a disposable camera in hand. She held it up and gestured vaguely to you and Calum. “Want a picture?” You leaned your head into Calum’s chest, your cheek resting on your own hand as you grinned at her. She smiled back to you as she took the picture, the flash a little brighter than you had expected.

“Make me a copy when you print those?” You asked as she put the camera down.

“Of course,” She smiled at you again. “Trust me, you’re gonna love it.”

When she walked away, snapping off more pictures as she went, you turned your attention back to Calum. He looked tired. Happy, giddy, a little goofy with the grin that was plastered on his face. But still very tired. You remembered that he had been awake for hours before you, and had a flight first thing in the morning so it wasn’t surprising at all that he would be tired by now.

“Wanna take off?” You asked him quietly.

“Nah,” He answered, shaking his head. “We’re havin’ fun. And it’s your best friend’s wedding. We can stay all night.”

“You’re sweet.” You told him, causing another crimson blush to crawl over his cheeks. “But you look like you’re about to collapse. I just have to say goodbye to Chris and we can leave.”

“Ya sure?”

“I’m sure.” You told him, reluctantly pulling yourself away from him. You took his hand in yours, linking your fingers with his as you lead him to wear you saw Christine and Erin on the other side of the reception venue. They both smiled at you as you got closer. Christine had been drinking wine all night and was slightly tipsy as she threw her arms around your shoulders.

“My best friend!” She slurred into your ear as she hugged you.

“You good?” You asked with a laugh as you pulled away from her.

“I’m great!” She cried. “I got fuckin’ married today!”

“Yeah, I was there.” You told her, laughing even more.

“You were! You were there for me for all of it. And I’m gonna be there when you get married, too.” Christine told you, suddenly getting very serious as placed an unsteady hand on your shoulder.

“Thank you, Chris. But I think we’re going to leave soon. We’re kind of tired.” Christine seemed sad, but hugged both of you nonetheless before allowing you to leave, with the promise that you would call her the next day.

 

As you drove back to your apartment, the same silence enveloped the two of you. This time was different, though. Just like earlier, neither of you spoke as you listened to the songs on the radio. When you were just about halfway home, Calum’s phone started ringing. He had plugged it in in your car during the reception and completely forgot about.

“Ah, shit.” He sighed as he picked it up to answer it. “Hey, Ash.” You could only hear one side of the conversation, but whoever was on the other end seemed to be upset if Calum’s expression was anything to go off of.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I just-” He started before being cut off again. He smiled to himself as whoever it was spoke to him. “I know, I know, I know. But there wasn’t-” You found yourself smiling with him as you listened to his fractured responses.

“I’m fine!” He called out suddenly. “I’ll text ya tomorrow, mate. I promise.” He laughed. “I’m not dead and I’ll come home soon… Okay, yeah, bye.” He was smiling, shaking his head slightly as he hung up.

“What was that all about?” You asked as you turned into the parking lot of your apartment complex.

He laughed again and looked up from his phone to look at you. “I might have forgotten to tell people that I was leaving.”

“Calum!”

“I didn’t think about it.” He said as you parked your car. He opened his door and got out, stretching his arms over his head as he stood up straight. “My roommate is with my dog, and that was all I cared about. I just wanted to get here and see you again.”

You got out of the car and he met you in front of it. He wrapped his arms around your waist and you rested your hands on his arms. “I wanted to see you again, too.” You told him with a smile. “But I do not need your friends thinking that I kidnapped you.”

He smiled back down to you before placing a kiss to your hair. “I’ll call tomorrow and fill ‘em in. But for now, I think I need some sleep.”

You stepped away from him and took his hand in yours as you lead him into your apartment building. As you got to your front door, you couldn’t help but to smile as you unlocked the door and walked inside. Calum’s suitcase was still sat next to your couch in the living room.

“I’m gonna go get changed, if ya wanna get comfortable.” You told him as you started down the hallway to your bedroom.

“Yeah, should I just set up out here?”

“You can if you want, but my bed is definitely more comfortable.”

“Is that so?” He asked as he picked up his suitcase and started to follow you.

You nodded as you opened your bedroom door, flipping on the light as Calum and Binx followed you inside. “Oh, yes.” You told him. “Like sleeping on a cloud.”

Calum giggled and set his suitcase down by the wall next to your bedroom door. “I think I’ll be the judge of that.” You pulled some pajamas from your dresser while Calum kneeled in front of his suitcase to retrieve his own.

“I’ll be back.” You said as you walked to the door. He stood up straight, a pair of black sweatpants in hand.

He put his hand around your waist and pulled you into him. “Hurry back, love.”

You could have melted on the spot. You leaned into him and kissed him, putting your hand on his cheek as you smiled into the kiss. When you pulled away, he was grinning again before he kissed your forehead softly.

You went into the bathroom across the hall and got undressed, changing into your pajamas quickly. After your makeup was off and your hair was brushed, you walked back into your bedroom and were met by the cutest sight you think you’d ever seen.

Calum was lying on his side on the far side of the bed, facing toward the door while he played on his phone. Your cat was curled up next to him. He was purring loudly as he snuggled into Calum’s bare stomach.

“I think he likes you.” You laughed as you lifted your comforter to join them in bed.

“Well, I think that I like _you._ ” Calum said, wiggling his eyebrows as you moved closer to him.

“That’s good, since you’re my soulmate and all.”

“And I’m so fuckin’ lucky that I am.” He was careful not to disturb Binx as he wrapped his arm around your waist under the blanket. You moved toward him and caught his full lips with yours. The kiss was soft, sweet, unrushed in a way that made you forget everything that wasn’t Calum.

“We should sleep.” You sighed after pulling away from him.

“We should.” He agreed, moving in to kiss you again.

“I can’t sleep if you keep kissing me.” You said with a laugh.

“Don’t wanna stop.” He said, a slight whine in his sleepy voice.

You don’t know how long you stayed up that night, but by the time you did finally fall asleep, the sun was starting to peek in through your curtains. You talked and laughed, occasionally stealing kisses in the dark until neither of you could keep your eyes open any longer. Both of you had bright, albeit sleepy, smiles on your faces as you finally allowed yourselves to be pulled into the most comfortable sleep you’d had in years. Just before you fell asleep, you thought to yourself that you could definitely get used to falling asleep in Calum’s arms, with Binx curled up between the two of you.


End file.
